Tooth cleaning and polishing element



Nov. 29, 1932. -H. R. PRIEST I 1,889,495

TOOTH CLEANING AND POLISHING ELEMENT Filed April 10, 1951 Patented Nov. '29, 1932 11mm; arnrnsr, or VLOUDQONVI-LLE; 01110 'roo'rn CLEANING AND romsnme ELEMENT Application filed April 10, 1931; ser al No. 529,194.

UNITED STATES, PATENT OFFICE This invention relates to tooth cleaning and polishing elements of the type describedin my co-pending application, filed July 15, 1930, Serial No. -l68,130.

Hitherto, it has been necessary to secure tooth brush bristles in a brush'head by means of stapling, and it is one of the objects ofthe present invention to eliminate stapling by the provision of a tooth cleaning and polishing 19 element including a single tuft of bristles set or stuck together in aibrush head having an axial opening extending all the way through the brush head, the bristles being firmly set or stuck together in the opening,

in such a compact mass as to prevent the bristles becoming loosened, as well as to permanently maintain the bristles in intimate contact with each other throughout their entire length. The brush head extends for approx- 20 imately three-fourths the length of the. bris-. tletuft so as to prevent any tendency of the bristles spreading at the tips, as well'as binding the bristles so tightly together through P out the major portion of their length as to 23 substantially prevent any yielding of the bris-.

tles laterally or longitudinally to destroy the unitary characteristic of the single tuft..

Hitherto, hog bristles and the like have been used in the construction of tooth cleaning and polishing devices, and such bristles cannot be treated to remove the objectionable abrasive character or scratch; A further'object of the invention is to provide a cleaning and polishing element in which the brush head is fitted with badger bristles which can be treat ed to remove the scratch and are substantially non-bending in character so that the cleaning and polishing element may be manipulated against the teeth with considerable pressure along the margins of the gums without spreading and mutilating or scratching in any manner the tender tissues of the gums.

The usual disk bristle tufts of the powerdriven dental cleaners and polishers spread apart in the form of an annulus from a central rivet carried by the stem which issecured in the dental engine chuck. These'radially spread out bristles, in practice, act

" of the gums and also "centrifugal force like needles and mutilate thetender margins throws the cleansing compound outwardl-y along the radially spread bristles to spatter the patients face as well as the wall and surrounding objects. It is, therefore, a. further object of the present invention to provide a dental cleaner and polisher adapted to be vpower-driven and embodying a single unitary rigid tuft of badger bristles substantially non-distortable laterally from the axis of the tuft and provided in the working surface with a depression which forms the usual annulus at the edge of the surface, but with this distinct-ion, the annulus does not spread laterally and may be manipulated around the tender tissues of the gum margins without scratching, penetrating or mutilating the gum margins in any manner.

In power driven dental polishers as well as inthie manual 'polisher, tuft holders often freeze in the grip or shank and cannot be readily removed for replacement. To avoid this disadvantage the present invention provides'a bristle-carrying brushhead having a reduced stem adapted tobe screwed into the shank or grip and having a stop shoulder at the base of the stem for 'preventin the brush head being screwed in too tight. onsequently the brush head may be lightly gripped by the fingers and unscrewed from the tooth brush grip or handle with ease and rapidity for replacement with a new one when the old tuft becomes worn out, while by simply reversing the direction of the dental engine chuck the brush head may be'unscrewed with great rapidity from the shank of the tool so that no time is lost when changing from a tuft having one shape to a tuft having a different shape as is necessary during the cleaning and polishing operation.

With the above and other objects in view the invention consists in certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter fully described and claimed, it being understood that various modifications maybe resorted to within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention. w 1

In the accompanying drawing forming part of this specification,

Figure 1 is a side levation of my improved cleaning and polishing device shown applied to a tooth at the gum margin,

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail sectional view of about three and one-half times actual size, showing the construction of the brush head having an axial opening therethrough for settingthe badger bristles,

Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of my improved brush head, with the single tuft of badger bristles exposed at both ends there through, and

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view through a power-driven tool equipped with my improved tooth cleaning and polishing element.

Referring now to the drawing in which like characters of reference designate similar parts in the various views, 10 designates a shank or handle which, in the present embodiment of the invention, is preferably equipped at the butt end with a mirror 11 and is also equipped with a cap 12 carrying a mirror 13, both mirrors being used for inspecting the backs of the teeth as well as the fronts of the teeth.

In carrying out the invention, I provide a substantially hemispherical brush head 14, best shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the same having a rounded face, as shown at 15, and being provided on the fiat face with a boss 16 which is exteriorly threaded, as shown at 17. The brush head is provided with an axial opening 18 which extends throughout the length of the brush head. A single tuft 19 preferably of badger bristles, is set for the major portion of its length in said axial opening. The projecting ends of the bristles extend only a short distance beyond the rounded face of the brush head and are terminally rounded to present a substantially convex rubbing surface, as shown at 20, formed permanently by the extreme ends of individual bristles. Due to the fact that the bristles are maintained in a substantially non-distortable bundle, the sides of the bristles, consequently, never form the rub bing surface and it follows that the ends of the bristles never stick out to form needles for puncturing the gums and soft tissues when the device is in operation.

To firmly anchor the bristles a suitable composition is used to stick together the base ends of the bristles and stick the same in the bore of the brush head. Ordinarily, the composition of whatever type may be heated to about a fluid consistency to insure penetration of the fluid between and around the ends of the bristles that are to be secured in the opening. Finally, the set is allowed to cool and harden.

The brush head extends for substantially three-fourths of the length of the tuft and maintains the bristles in intimate contact with each other for a corresponding portion of their length. The tuft projects about 3/32 to beyond the socket. By thus setting the tuft in an axial opening extending entirely through the brush head and boss,

the brush head permanently secures the bristles against any tendency to be pulled loose or spread and binds or clamps the bristles so tightly together as to positively prevent any appreciable yielding of the bristles longitudinally or laterally to destroy the substantially non-distortable structure of this tuft.

Preferably, the badger bristles are treated prior to assembly to remove roughness or abrading factors therefrom, it being known to those skilled in the art that, unlike hog bristles, badger bristles are susceptible to such treatment. As a result, when assembled in the unitary, compact substantially nondistortable tuft, the tuft may be manipulated against the teeth around the tender gum surfaces under pressure up to and exceeding twenty pounds without any tendency to spread and mutilate the tender tissues of the gums, while, in practice, ordinary tooth brush bristles spread apart under pressure of about 4 pounds and thereafter are worthless to accomplish adequate cleaning and polishing of the teeth.

The above described brush head is threadedinto an interiorly threaded opening 21 formed in a suitable substantially hemispherical head 22 integral with the shank or handle 10, so that renewal of a wornout tuft may be made when required. It will be observed that the head and the brush head 15, when assembled, form substantially a ball. This ball may be rolled against the gums and tissues of the mouth rapidly and conveniently to manipulate the rubbing surface against the fronts or backs or between the teeth so that easy handling of the device is promoted as well as the surface of the ball passing readily over the soft tissues of the gums, lips and mouth, wherever it touches these parts, with greater comfort than hitherto possible and without the usual after effects of lacerated gums and tissues attendant upon the use of ordinary tooth cleaning and polishing devices.

A modified form of the invention is shown in Fig. 4, particularly applicable to powerdriven dental engines. In this modified form of the invention, a substantially hemispherical head 23, provided with an axial stem 24; opposite its fiat face, is employed, preferably the same being formed of metal, although other materials may be used if desired. The shank 2a is receivable in the chuck of the dental engine in the usual manner.

The hemispherical brush head 25 of this modified form is provided with a boss 26 which is threaded, as shown at 27, into an axial recess in the fiat face of the head 23. The brush head is provided with an axial opening 28 which extends from the flat face of the brush head through the boss. A single unitary substantially non-extensive and nonspreading tuft 29 of badger bristles preferably is set in the opening 28 with substantially a quarter of the length of the bristles, or about to A, projectin from the brush head, as above described. l lowever, in this modified form of. the invention, the tuft is provided centrally with a depression 30 for the purpose of forming an annular working or rubbing surface 31 in the end of the tuft outside of the depression corresponding in function to the annulus of bristles used in connec tion with power-driven tooth cleaning and polishing tools. However, the annular working surface in this instance differs from the latter in presenting a non-distortable annulus which does not spread laterally under great pressure applied to the tool to remove tartar, mucus stains and the like, so that the tuft may be manipulated around the tender gum margins without, scratching or otherwise mutilating the tender tissues of the gums.

The head 25 may be formed of metal, if desired, to correspond to the metal head 23 of the power-driven tool, or may be formed of any other desired material. I

Preferably, in the preferred form of the invention shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the brush;

head is formed of hard rubber, although other material may be used if desired, it being simply essential in the practice of the invention that the brush head be provided with an axial opening extending from end to'end of the brush head for the reception of the set ends of the bristles comprising the single unitary, compact, substantially non-distortable tuft, as above described.

A feature common to both forms of the invention, shown in Figures land 4, is that the flat face of the brush head outside of the reduced exteriorly threaded stem 16 forms a stop shoulder at the base of the stem which engages the flat end face of the head 22 of the handle, or the head 23 of the shank as the case may be, and prevents the brush head being screwed in so tight as to freeze and be diflicult to remove. The operator may simply grasp the brush head in his fingers and unscrew it from the tooth brush shank or handle to replace a worn out tuft with a new one, or the dentist may simply grasp the socket with his fingers and reverse the direction of the dental engine to remove and replace a worn out socket with great rapidity so that no time is lost when ch anging from a tuft having, for. instance, a rounded end to one having a pointed end or other type and as is customary in tooth cleaning and polishing practice.

Having thus described the invention, I claim:

1. A tooth cleaning and polishing tool comprising a grip terminating in a substantially-hemispherical head having any axial threaded openingin the 'fiatf'ace thereof, a substantially hemispherical brush head hav ing its flat-face provided with a reduced axial screw-.threaded'stem engaged in said opening, thebrush head flat face at the'base of the stem forming a stop shoulder disposed in contact with theflat face of the grip head and limiting insertion of th'e stem into said opening, the assembled grip head and brush head being substantially a ball, 'there'being an axial opening extending throughout the brush head and stem thereof, and a single cylindrical rigid tuft of bristles confined "for themaj or portion of its length in said open: ing and "extendingfrom end to end ofthe opening and projecting with its free end a short distance beyond the rounded surface of thesocket. c v j a 2. In tooth cleaning and polishingapparatus, a substantially hemispherical brush head having an exterior rounded face and having a flat face, a reduced exteriorly threaded stem projecting axially from said fiat face, there being an opening extending axially through the brush head and stem, the fiat face of the brushhead outside of said stem forming an annular stop shoulder, and a single cylindrical rigid tuft of bristles securely stuck together and confined compactly in said opening and extending throughout the length of the opening, said tuft having the tip thereof projecting a short distance beyond the rounded face of the brush head.

3. A tooth cleaning and polishing tool comprising a short substantially rigid'tuft of stiff bristles reversely rounded at the tip and presenting a convex substantially non-distortable tooth rubbing surface, a substantially hemispherical brush head having an axial opening extending from the flat face to the rounded face thereof, said opening receiving the major portion of said tuft, the projecting portion of the tuft being relatively short so as to dispose the convex rubbing surface in close proximity to the rounded surface of the brush head, and a grip for the brush head terminating in an integral substantially hemispherical head, means removably securing the brush head to the grip head, said grip head and said brush head when assembled forming substantially a ball adapted to be easily manipulated over the lips and gums.

4. A tooth cleaning and polishing tool for dental engines comprising a substantially hemispherical head having an integral axial shank projecting therefrom opposite its flat face for engagement with the chuck of the dental engine to be rotated thereby, a substantially hemispherical brush head having its fiat face in intimate contact with the fiat face of said head, a reduced screw threaded stem integral with the flat face of the brush head and extending axially therefrom, there being a screw threaded opening formed axially in the flat face of said shank'headreceiving said stem, there being an axial opening extending throughout the brush head and stem, said stem permitting of the brush head being screwed into or unscrewed from the shank head without stopping the dental engine by reversing the direction of the rotation of the engine, the flat face of the brush head outside of the stem forming a stop shoulder for limiting insertion of the stem in said opening, and a single cylindrical rigid tuft of bristles confined at one end in said axial opening in the brush head and stem and projecting for a short distance beyond the rounded face of the brush head, the wall of said opening clamping said bristles in in timate contact with each other throughout their length and permanently preventing the bristles spreading apart at their free ends under great pressure.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

HARRY R. PRIEST. [L. 8.] 

